Walking In Love 5/17/2026

John speaks to “dear children” and names the time as “the last hour,” not to fuel timelines but to press urgency. The last hour sits like a car running along the cliff’s edge, always one turn from the drop, and its sign is clear: “many antichrists have come.” The antichrists are not apocalyptic caricatures but those who “went out from us” because they “deny that Jesus is the Christ.” John reads their exit as exposure. Their departure shows they were never truly of the fellowship, since denial of the Son unravels fellowship with the Father.

The text draws a bright Trinitarian line. “No one who denies the Son has the Father,” and the Spirit is present in the church as an “anointing” that abides. Against claims of secret access and superior revelation, the anointing grants real knowledge to the whole church. The solution John gives is not a novel key but a return: “see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you.” Remaining in the apostolic gospel keeps believers in the Son and the Father, and the promise attached to that remaining is “eternal life.”

The anointing’s work is practical. The Spirit teaches the church to test words by the Word, to measure voices by the Scriptures God breathed out. The text insists that the measure is Jesus himself. Any message that sidesteps the biblical Jesus, however religious it sounds, belongs to the lie. History bears the warning. When Jesus is redefined to serve an agenda, devotion is quietly redirected; eventually a church sits out justice because it no longer recognizes its Lord.

John’s remedy holds for this hour too. The Spirit pulls attention back to the Jesus already revealed in Scripture. Three nonnegotiables help anchor that gaze. Jesus’ humility is not a footnote but the center: the Son of Man came “not to be served but to serve,” giving his life as ransom. Jesus’ love is stubbornly directional: he moves toward the overlooked and the compromised, calling sinners not the self-assured. And Jesus’ grace is the ground under every step: salvation is God’s gift, not human earning, freeing lives for good works rather than leveraging them for favor. Where humility, love, or grace are trimmed away, a different Jesus is being sold. Where the church abides in the message from the beginning, the true Jesus remains, and with him, life that does not end.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. The last hour demands discernment The last hour is not a countdown clock but a call to sober reading of the moment. Its clearest marker is the rise of voices that unmake Jesus, even while wearing religious language. Urgency here means clarity about Christ, not anxiety about calendars. [27:22]
• 2. Antichrists un-Jesus the gospel John names as “liar” the move that denies Jesus as the Christ, because it severs access to the Father. The tactic shows up as redefinition, not only rejection, and it always shrinks or edits Jesus to fit an agenda. The end result is distance from God under the cover of spirituality. [34:02]
• 3. The Spirit’s anointing steadies believers The anointing abides, teaching the church to remain in what was heard from the beginning. That presence undercuts elitist claims of secret knowledge by granting real knowledge to ordinary believers. Confidence here is not arrogance but dependence on God’s ongoing, truthful presence. [37:55]
• 4. The real Jesus bears humility, love, grace Humility keeps the cross at the center, resisting self-help versions of Christ that skip sacrifice. Love sends the church toward the overlooked, not away from them. Grace breaks the treadmill of spiritual performance, rooting assurance in God’s gift rather than human output. [44:51]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [13:20] - Offering and giving as worship
• [21:48] - Scripture reading: 1 John 2:18-27
• [24:17] - Risk illustration and discernment
• [27:22] - What John means by “last hour”
• [30:14] - Antichrists in John’s vocabulary
• [34:41] - Denying the Son denies the Father
• [36:09] - The Spirit’s anointing, no secret elite
• [37:55] - Remain in what you heard at first
• [41:22] - When Jesus gets redefined
• [44:51] - Three nonnegotiables of Jesus
• [46:04] - Jesus the humble servant
• [47:33] - Love that moves toward the overlooked
• [49:39] - Grace that frees from earning
• [52:36] - Invitation, prayer, and sending

Bible Reading
1 John 2:18-27 (ESV)
18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. 20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. 21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.

Mark 10:42-45 (ESV)
42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

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Observation Questions

1. According to 1 John 2:18-19, what two signs indicate the "last hour," and how does John explain the departure of those who left the church?
2. In the sermon, what three non-negotiable characteristics of Jesus were highlighted as essential to avoid redefining Him? [44:51]
3. How does John describe the role of the "anointing" (Holy Spirit) in helping believers discern truth (1 John 2:20-27)?
4. What example from history did the sermon use to illustrate the danger of redefining Jesus? [41:22]

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Interpretation Questions

1. Why does John emphasize remaining in what you heard from the beginning (1 John 2:24) as the solution to false teaching? How does this connect to the work of the Holy Spirit?
2. The sermon warned that redefining Jesus’ humility, love, or grace creates a “different Jesus.” How might trimming away one of these traits distort the gospel’s message? [44:51]
3. In Mark 10:45, Jesus says He came to “serve” and “give His life as a ransom.” How does this redefine greatness, and why might this clash with modern cultural values?
4. The sermon described antichrists as those who “un-Jesus the gospel.” What does it look like to deny Jesus by redefinition rather than outright rejection? [34:02]

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Application Questions

1. The sermon warned against teachings that “shrink or edit Jesus to fit an agenda.” What current cultural or personal pressures might tempt you to redefine Jesus’ character? How can you guard against this? [34:02]
2. John urges believers to “remain in what you heard from the beginning.” What daily or weekly habits could help you stay rooted in the core truths about Jesus?
3. Jesus’ love moved Him toward the overlooked. Is there a person or group in your life you’ve been avoiding or judging? What step could you take to reflect His love this week? [47:33]
4. The sermon said grace “frees lives for good works rather than leveraging them for favor.” Where do you struggle to rest in grace instead of striving to earn God’s approval? [49:39]
5. How can you practically test a teaching or idea against Scripture when it claims to be “spiritual” or “progressive”? What red flags would signal it might be redefining Jesus?
6. The Nazi-era example showed how redefining Jesus led to apathy toward injustice. Are there areas where your understanding of Jesus might be keeping you silent or inactive? [41:22]